Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Problem Attic

Problem Attic is a game about prisons, both real and imaginary. it was originally for ludum dare #26, then i took the idea a lot further. you can play it HERE MIRROR HERE (the mirror is recommended esp if you're getting super slow downloads). if you're only seeing a purple screen for awhile when you open the file it's because stencyl is dumb - but rest assured, the game is loading.

it's a 2d platformer made in flash (with stencyl) and takes 1-2 hours to complete (OR MUCH LONGER DEPENDING ON HOW LONG YOU TAKE I DUNNO). it runs in your web browser. the game will save your progress, but it will start you off at the title screen each time.

note: if you reach a screen that you think is the ending but you're not sure, you're not at the end. you haven't reached the ending until the game literally tells you it's the "end" =)

controls:

arrow keys to move
UPDATED 6/30: z or up to jump
r to ??
x to start

if you played the original ludum dare version, note that this game is kind of a different beast now and a lot of the control issues have been fixed.

the soundtrack will be forthcoming on my bandcamp page in the next few weeks. in the meantime, you can help me out and show your appreciation by getting my album SCRAPS, which is pay what you want.

14 comments:

This is really something special. Your use of negative space in level design is stunning. I was never quite sure if I was ripping apart a seam or just effortlessly gliding into a well-placed pocket. In spite of that feeling I never lost trust in the game -- I always knew that I'd be able to progress even when nothing was apparent*.

Sometimes I'd complete or progress in a level without having any idea why, but replaying the level or moving on in retrospect it all made sense and fit together well.

* Not technically true as I've not completed it yet (don't quite get the level with the character in the square surrounded by arrows) but I'll be revisiting this when time allows.

This is a very moving game. It gives me a lot of mixed feelings, at times very uncomfortably so. And I think that's a good thing! You convey a lot of emotion without using words, and that's powerful. I wish I could put more into words, but I'd like to say thanks for creating such a heartfelt work of art.

I haven't been able to finish the game, though. I seem to be be completely stuck in the area where you are chased by small grey squares. I've spent a lot of time there and found several flashing squares that warp me around, but now whenever I touch one I get warped into a box that I can't leave and can't die in. Every time I re-load my save and get back to this level, any warp puts me back there again.

Thanks, that was a helpful clue! I've completed the game now. What an experience! I forgot to say so before, but I love the music you've made for this- it's very fitting with the worlds you've created and deconstructed here. I'm looking forward to the soundtrack release :)

This is great. As a child I had strange night-terrors whose visuals seemed to be inspired by the Atari games I was constantly playing, and this game reminds me of that, only without the me-screaming-in-terror part. I've never played anything like it.

I've managed to get through a pretty big chunk of the game but I seem to be pretty stuck at the moment, at the third, most glitched-out version of the room with the moving platform blocks. I know I can glitch into the black areas but from there I can't figure out how to glitch myself into what looks like the exit block, or remove the barrier around it. I managed to solve a few other puzzles by leaving the game and coming back to it, so this is the first place that I'm absolutely stuck at. (Otherwise I've been enjoying this hellworld experience a lot, it's an impressively purposely-broken setup.)

Wow. Remarkable way to express complex and personal concepts through gameplay. Still kind of absorbing it.

I'm afraid to say, though, that I got a couple of crashes, both on the "I hear something ringing" trigger near the end. Seemingly some kind of infinite loop. Coming as close as it did to the end, it kind of killed the moment, but it was still a remarkable experience overall. Thank you!